WA resource centre traffic is flying high

Camera IconPassenger traffic within WA to resources centres has surged in the year to March 31.Picture: Picture: Geoffrey Thomas

Passenger traffic within WA to resources centres is surging as the green shoots of a recovery take root.

Figures just released by the Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics for the year ended March 31 show traffic between Perth and Kalgoorlie was up 15.4 per cent, Newman 8.3 per cent, Port Hedland 7.6 per cent and Karratha 2.2 per cent.

Those numbers are even more significant against the backdrop of a meagre 0.7 per cent increase for national domestic passenger traffic.

And for the same 12-month period Perth Airport recorded an increase of 6.7 per cent of domestic passengers — the highest of the big four domestic airports.

Traffic on the Melbourne to Perth route was also up by 3.6 per cent, while Sydney to Perth was flat.

However, while the news is positive the heady days of nearly every transcontinental flight between Perth and Melbourne and Sydney operated by large twin-aisle A330s are still a way off.

Both Qantas and Virgin Australia are using the smaller, and less comfortable, Boeing 737s on many of their transcontinental services.

When choosing your flight, it’s important to check the aircraft type by hovering the mouse over the flight number to open up the window for those details.

Many savvy business travellers will wait for a later flight to get the Airbus A330.

However, Virgin Australia does offer Economy X in all its 737s and A330s and this product gives travellers significantly more leg room.

The Qantas equivalent is the two exit rows in its 737s.

On intra-WA routes, the surge in traffic means that both major airlines will review aircraft sizes and “up-gauge” from 100-seat Fokker 100s and 125-seat Boeing 717s to 174-seat Boeing 737s and A320s depending upon the airline.